Wilbur f



(No Mbdel.) 2 SheetsSheet ,1.

W. F. DIAL & P. W. OSTROM. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 436,054. Patented Sept.9,1890.

wizeaaea O 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. F. DIAL & F. W. OSTROM. I FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES. No. 486,054. Patented Sept. 9, 1890.

(No Model.)

i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILBUR F. DIAL AND FREELAND W. OSTROM, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNEOTI- CUT, ASSIGNORS TO THE WHEELER & WILSON MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

V SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 436,054., dated September 9, 1890.

Application filed May 31, 1889- Serial No. 312,770- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILBUR F. DIAL and FREELAND W. OSTROM, both of Bridgeport, 1n the county of Fairfield, State of Connecti- 5 out, have invented an Improvement in Sew- 1n g-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

In factories where knitted material is made up lnto garments, socks, &c., by sewing mach1nery it is now and has usually been the custom to employ machines making a chain or loop stitch.

For many years the machine most largely in use was the Grover &Baker, it making a double-loop and very elastic stitch, but of late years so-called chain-stitch machines employinga singlethread havebeen especially adapted and improved to sew seamsin knitted material, and it has been conceded that a-lockstitchsuch as made by an eye-pointed needle and a shuttle or equivalent under-thread carrier-was unsuited for stitching knitted ma- 2 5 terial. This general condemnation of the lock-stitch for sewing seams in knitted material has arisen from the fact that in sewing with a lock-stitch by usual methods the stitch does not present as much elasticity as the knitted material, and consequently strain on the knitted material in the direction of the length of the seam causes the stitches to break at intervals. The look-stitch has advantages over the chain-stitch for all classes of seams, especially in that it is less liable to unravel at the finish of the seam,0r at any intermediate point in the seam in case some stitches should be broken by excessive strain in washing, pressing, &c. The lock-stitch, it will be 4 admitted, requires less thread in the formation of a seam than any form of loop or chain stitch, and consequently it is an object to save thread, especially when the length of seams sewed in knitted goods amounts to many miles annually. I

After experiment we have devised means, which maybe combined with stitch-forming devices and enable knitted material to be united bya lock-stitch and form a strong durable seam which will not break by any usual strain on the material; and we have also invented a novel method of sewing, the latter being described and claimed in another application, Serial No. 312,771, filed by us concurrently herewith. I

Figure 1, in elevation and partial section, shows one form of well-known sewing mechanism with one form of device attached thereto, by which our improved method of sewing may be -practiced. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the throat-plate removed; Fig. 3, an edge and under side view of the'same. Fig. 4: is a diagram on a larger scale to more clearly illustrate our method of sewing.

Referring to the drawings, a represents a resser-foot; a, a presser-foot bar; 1), aneedlebar; I), an eye-pointed needle; 0, a rotating shuttle or under-thread carrier; 01, a take-up; d, a tension device; 6, a feed-bar; e, a rockshaft for moving the feed-bar longitudinally; 6 a rock-shaft for raising and lowering the feed-bar; f, a throat-plate having a needlehole 2 and a feed-slot 3.

The parts so far described are as common to the Wheeler 8: Wilson sewing-machine, but instead of the particular stitch-forming and feed mechanisms referred to we may employ any other usual stitch-forming mechanism.

The throat-plate f, in the form in which we have herein chosen to illustrate our invention, is represented as provided immediately in front of the needle-hole with a retarding device, the latter being herein represented as a spring-finger 5, extended upwardly through a slot 45 in the throat-plate, the said finger being attached by a screw 6 to the under side of the throat plate, the said retarding device, as herein represented, normally standing above the throat-plate with its acting portion just in advance of the needle-hole toward the operator, and in such position as to hold the ma- The retarding device referred to, by its action against the material between it and the under side of the presser-foot or some wellknown equivalent device located at that side of the material opposite the retarding device and at a point immediatelyin advance of the needle in the direct line of the stitching, as described, serves to hold or detain the material as the feed engages and moves the same for a new stitch, and as a result thereof the material is stretched between a previous stitch and the point where the needle is to penetrate the material for a new stitch.

Instead of the particular form of retarding device represented in the drawing, we may employ any other otherusual or suitable mechanical contrivance which will co-operate with the presser-foot and feed to stretch the material intermittingly, in the manner described, in the line of the stitching, for it will be obvious that many different devices might be used by which to practice our invention mechanically without departing from our invention; but the devices herein shown may be employed to practice our method in a simple manner.

As described, it will be understood that the material is stretched a little at a time in the line of the stitching,substantially at the stitchmaking point or between a previously-made stitch and the point where a stitch is to be commenced.

It will be observed thatthe particular part of the material in which the stitches are to be made to form a seam in accordance with our method of sewing is stretched just in the line of the seam, and not necessarily at any other part, and the operator is not compelled to carefully hold the material under tension, but

has only to see that the material is properly guided, as in usual stitching.

As previously stated, it is of great advantage to be able to employ the lock-stitch seam in knitted material; but it will be obvious that the method described of stretching the material directly in the line of the seam and between a previous stitch and a stitch just to be commenced is productive of advantage even when the material is stitched by devices to form a chain, or a loop-stitch with one or two threads. So we do not intend to limit our invention solely to the employment of a lockstitch, but may use any other usual machinestitch.

Referring to Fig. 4, h 72/ will be supposed to represent two thicknesses of knitted goods superimposed one on the other, the under ply of the material being upon the throatplate. In said Fig. 4, n represents stitches which have been previously made in the material; n, astitch which is being tightened in usual manner while the needle-bar and needle are elevated, and 0 represents the point where the needle will penetrate the material at its next descent.

It will be understood that the retarding device and the presser-foot act upon the material to pinch and hold it just in front of the needle-hole toward the operator, while the feed rises in the slot 3, engages the material and moves it away from the operator for the length of a stitch. The drawings, Fig. 4, show the material so engaged to be moved to be again penetrated by the needle, and it is during this operation of feeding the material while it is held as described, that the material between a stitch already made and the point where a stitch is next to be made is stretched. In this Way short portion after short portion of the material is stretched to an extent substantially equal to that to which the material will be subjected in any ordinary strain, so that thereafter the usual strain upon the material having the finished seam will not cause the stitch tobe broken.

To enable the material to be stretched more or less, the retarding device, herein shown,

has combined with it an adjusting device,

(shown as a screw 8,) the rotation of which in one or the other direction enables the eifective strength of the retarding device-to be varied.

WVe are aware that it has been proposed to distend cloth while being stitched on a sewing-machine by acting upon the cloth by feedwheels or surfaces located at but one side of the line of stitching, the distention of the material being from a point about opposite one side of the needle and a point equal to the length of several stitches from the needle; but prior to our invention we are not aware that knitted goods were ever stretched automatically in short lengths just before-being stitched, or that knitted or any other goods were ever stretched intermittinglyin the line of stitching, and in our judgment a lockstitch seam could not be practically used to sew knitted material if the material should be stretched only at one-side of the line of stitching.

We claiin V 1. The combination, with stitch-forming devices and a four-motion feed, substantially such as described, mounted upon one side (the rear) of the needle-hole, of a presserfoot or its equivalent, and the retarding device 5, arranged upon the other side (in front) of the needle-hole and consisting of a springsupported finger extended over and always suspended above the throat-plate and exerting pressure on and retarding the feeding of'the material, the said retarding device, presserfoot, and feed mechanism being arranged in the line of stitching, whereby as the feed mechanism rises and moves from the needlehole the work is stretched between the point where it is held by the said retarding device V 436,054 r i v 3 vices, a four-motion feed mechanism, a pressnames to this specification in the presence of er-fcot or its equivalent, a retarding device two subscribing witnesses. constructed as a spring-finger made fast to a stationary part of the machine, and an adg g' 5 justing device applied to the retarding de- J vice to vary its effective strength or action, Witnesses: substantially as described. ISAAC HOLDEN,

In testimony whereo'f we have signed our LOUIS H. BAKER. 

